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Rifle Club at a Liberal College? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Daniel White   
Monday, 12 December 2005

The Friday edition of The Oberlin Review, student newspaper for Oberlin College, announced the formation of the Oberlin Student Rifle Association.
College senior Santiago Stocker, one of the founders and co-chair of OSRA, described his vision of the club.

“The purpose of OSRA is to provide students at Oberlin with a venue to exercise their Second Amendment rights and a forum to discuss Second Amendment issues,” Stocker said.

While many people, students included,would be surprised to see a pro-gun club at a bastion of liberal ideals such as Oberlin College, Stocker doesn't believe the two are mutually exclusive.
“Gun rights are not a conservative issue,” Stocker insisted. “I personally believe gun rights are a progressive issue.

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There was a mixture of support and opposition from fellow students to the 27 member club. The most telling is the response of College sophomore Penelope Fisher:
“If they are trying to oppose stricter gun laws, that is a problem. If they are just going to ranges, that doesn’t offend me,” Fisher said. “I don’t like guns, but OSRA has a right to exist.”

We'd remind Ms. Fisher that gun owners have a constitutionally recognized right to exist as well, and that defense of that right is not "a problem." Quite to the contrary, the problem is the willingness of so many people to cast aside rights they do not feel they need or support; and disparage others who do not choose to take their rights so lightly.

We with the OSRA the best of luck.